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Old Sat Nov 16, 2013, 03:11 PM
KMac KMac is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Golden, Colorado
Posts: 103
Dear hma,

I've had the same thoughts go through my mind about my illness and my family.

As you can see from my signature though, my counts were extremely poor at diagnosis, my AA was severe, yet I am still here, feeling much better, and back to working full time.

Even if you do have AA, judging from your counts it is a mild case. But I understand your worry.

So far as an AA diagnosis, I believe one thing to look for within the lowered WBC count is the proportion of neutrophils to lymphocytes. For example, at diagnosis, I had about 7 times more lymphoctyes than neutrophils (ANC 200). That is a very unusual proportion in healthy people (who typically have more neutrophils than lymphoctyes), but a very common finding in people with AA.

In think in that anomaly lies a huge clue to understanding AA. As grim as my counts were at diagnosis, my hematologist told me that my high lymphocyte count was a good prognostic indicator that I'd respond well to the ATG treatment. Reason being, it's believed that these lymphoctyes contain the 'rogue' blood cells which are causing the autoimmune attack on the marrow - so apparently I presented with the classic 'immune-mediated' sort of AA that often responds to immunosuppression.

Do your lab reports break out your neutrophil versus lymphocyte count within your WBC?
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Kevin, male age 45; dx SAA 02/2012 - Hgb 5.8, platelets 14, ANC 200, 1% cellularity. Received ATG 03/2012. As of 03/2015, significant improvement - Hgb 15, platelets 158, ANC fluctuates around 1000, Lymphocytes 620. Tapering cyclosporine. BMB 20-30% cellularity.
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